Avalon Waterways - Avalon Poetry II Reviews

Wonderful expierence.

All I can say is that it was a magical trip. Wonderful crew and cruise director Melinda. Weather was perfect. Can’t wait for the next one.

Met many people we interacted of all ages and countries. Tony Taylor was a great cruise director helpful at every turn. Staff was impeccable!

Our recent Avalon Active and Discovery Cruise (southbound on the Rhone) exceeded our expectations. We chose to visit Paris for the 2 days prior to our cruise. The airport transfer was easy, and our Tour Director Simona met us at 7:30 am at our hotel, the Marriott Opera Ambassador. (Great hotel; excellent location; wonderful full breakfast included.) Many “must sees” close to the hotel, including the Opera House, the Palais Garnier, and the observation deck at the Galleries Lafayette. The Avalon Go phone app was extremely helpful and full of information. I think they should consider including an excursion to Musee d’Orsay or Musee de l’Orangerie, perhaps in the afternoon on the 2nd day in Paris. Simona was just amazing throughout the entire trip. We enjoyed the train ride from Paris to Lyons to embark. Our ship was the Poetry II, which can accommodate about 124, only had about 75 passengers on our trip. It’s a beautiful ship with lots of places to sit and relax, inside or out. (WiFi should be improved for outside areas.) Our stateroom and bathroom were plenty big, with lots of storage options. We had chosen our excursions prior to the trip, but it was very easy to make changes. We enjoyed all of our choices. And our Activities Director, Andrezito, threw in some extra afternoon bike rides. Excursion favorites were the evening tour of Viviers and the hike in Arles. I loved visiting the chocolate factory, while my husband was off on another bike adventure. We had an amazing time and hope to do another Active and Discovery cruise in the future.

Five stars

We did not like it that we had no booklet or printed itinerary for the trip. Very poor internet connection on board left us feeling unprepared for 9 days.

Some of the shore excursions need tweaking

We enjoyed the whole trip although the cruise portion is always the most enjoyable for us.

The dinner menu was not quite up to the standard we had come to expect from our previous Avoya cruises.

We had wonderful time. Cruise director was very helpful. We did miss paper copy of maps on walking tours. My husband got lost in one town and app map couldn't b accessed on phone.

This was a great river cruise and I highly recommend Avalon and this excursion!

Loved the smaller ship with fewer people and the casual, more intimate atmosphere. Food was fabulous, attention to our needs was amazing from housekeeping and front desk to wait staff! What a wonderful way to see France!

It would be valuable to have a doctor available in each city. I did not think the tour was very comfortable with medical issues that came up.

My first river cruise and I wasn’t sure what to expect but it exceeded my expectations. I just can’t find anything to complain about.

It was a 7 night cruise. We enjoyed it very much. Poor WiFi and Tv service. Not exciting entertainment nor deserts. The staff was wonderful Ship and staterooms immaculate.

Perfect in everyway

Amazing cruise in a beautiful country! The crew was so nice and accommodating. The cruise director was made sure everything went smoothly. He was always available to answer any questions and knew all the guests by name. The whole trip, start to finish, was perfect!

Well planned beautiful trip

This trip was so wonderful. The ship we were on was clean. The staff was available whenever you needed them. They were friendly, they took care of us, they were always there to see us off or greet us when returning back. We were always informed on what was happening. The food was extraordinary! We felt cared for and felt safe every single day on this cruise. We were sorry to see if come to an end. This is definitely the way to travel. Even in Paris and Monaco our cruise director was there and made sure we knew where we needed to be and what we needed to do.

I did not expect to be disappointed and I wasn't. Although the Rhone is not as picturesque as the Rhine or Danube, the experience was still first rate. Great on board food and top notch tour guides.